Saddle-pad



(No Model.)

' w; VOGLER.

SA DDLE PAD. J

No, 578,124. Patented Mar. 2, 1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM VOGLER, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

SADDLE-PAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 578,124, dated March 2, 1897.

Application filed May 4, 1896. Serial No. 590,108. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM VOGLER, of Somerville,county of Middlesex,State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Saddle-Pads, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

Saddles used on the backs of horses are commonly padded, and they in use heat the back of the horse and frequently wear the back sore, and it is customary to put under the pad of the saddle a second pad of some suitable material, more or less soft, on which the pad of the usual saddletree rests.

I have studied to improve saddle-pads so that they may rest on the back of the horse and yield to a limited extent, and my improved pad is cooler and more durable than any stuffed or upholstered pad, for the reason that between the upper and lower sections of the pad there is a large space in which air may circulate, and also by reason of the separate branches of the spring-sections resting on the thin supporting-foundation under them said springs touch the back of the horse at intervals, supported bya space equal to the distance of the springs apart.

In accordance with my invention fora pad I employ a series of metallic springs flexibly connected and adapted to be interposed between the back of the horse and the usual leather skirt of the saddletree, the springs used in my improved pad being so made and connected that they will yield as the harnesspad rises and falls due to strains in driving the load, it also conforming itself readily to the shape of the back of the horse.

My invention may be embodied in the saddle-pad itself or be made as a separate pad adapted to be interposed between the saddlepad and the back of the horse, and in either case there is a good-sized air-space in the saddle.

My invention consists, essentially, in a saddle-pad composed of a series of metallic springs united by a flexible connection.

Figure 1 shows a harness-saddle provided with one of my improved saddle-pads. Fig. 2 shows the spring part of the pad detached. Fig. 3 shows the spring part in cross-section,

and Fig. 4 shows one of the individual springs in top view.

The saddle A is and may be of any usual construction commonlymade to fit a horses back,A showing the so-called leather skirt of the saddle, and A the upholstered part of the pad.

B represents a so-called sweat-pad, such as frequently used, it resting directly on the back of the horse. This sweat-pad has fastening devices B, having suitable buckles. The sweat-pad has raised edges B preferably formed by foldinga strip of leather about a cord and stitching theleather to the bottom part of the pad.

I have made a saddle-pad, and it consists of a series of flexible springs a, composed of spring-wire suitably shaped to present between their ends suitable coils or springy eyes or loops at, the free ends or arms of the wires of each spring being united in any suitable Way, as by bendingone end of one arm about the adjacent arm, as at a a The eyes or loops a are strung oncoiled spring-wires b, which thus afford a flexible connection or holder for the series of springs.

The pad may be made of any desired length by using more or less springs, and it may be of any desired width, that depending on the length of-the springs, and the thickness of the pad may be varied by the shape in which the spring-wires are bent. I

By illustration of my invention in its simplest form I have shown my pad in skeleton form as interposed between a sweat pad, which latter may be of any usual material, and the upholstered part of the saddle, but it will be understood that the spring-pad may be inserted between the skirt A and the padlining, and thus take the place of the usual upholstered part of the pad.

While I show coiled metallic springs 17 as the yielding connections for the series of springs, this invention is not in all cases limited to coiled springs, as I may use a flexible rope or cord to till the eyes or loops.

The part of my saddle-pad which lies directly under the top of the saddle may present only the flexible connection, and by attaching two pads to said connection the saddle-pad is in a measure balanced.

Fig. 3 shows clearly the air-space between the upper and lower sections of the pad, and by referring to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the series of springs are separated one from the other for a certain distance, and consequently a pad made as herein described and laid on a foundation of leather or other usual material will bear on the back of the horse with an uneven pressure, that is, it will bear more firmly directly under the springs, leaving the back between the springs subjected to less pressure, and this unequal pressure is of advantage, because by it the circulation of the blood is not impeded, as it would be by a strong unyielding pressure across the back.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. A saddle-pad composed of a series of metallic springs, and flexible connections to join the ends of said springs, said connections being free to yield to conform to the shape of the back of the animal, substantially as described.

2. A saddle-pad composed of a series of metallic springs, and flexible connections to join the ends of said springs, said connections being free to yield to conform to the shape of the back of the animal, combined with a pad interposed between said springs and the back of the animal and 011 which said springs rest throughout their length, substantially as described.

3. A saddle-pad composed of a series of elliptic metallic springs having a plurality of coils, and connecting devices extended through said coils, said connecting devices being flexible and free to yield in the direcscribed.

4. A saddle-pad composed of two series of springs one series being separated from the other, each series being mounted on flexible connections united together, substantially as described.

5. A saddle-pad composed of a series of parallel elliptic wire metallic springs and flexible connections uniting the opposite ends of said springs, said connections being free to yield and to adapt themselves to the shape of the back of the animal, substantially as described.

6. A saddle-pad com posed of a series of parallel elliptic wire metallic springs and flexible connections uniting the opposite ends of 'said springs, said connections being free to yield and adapt themselves to the shape of the back of the animal, combined with a pad against which the under side of each of said springs rests between its opposite ends, leaving a space between the top and under sides of said springs in which the members of said springs may move when the pad is in use, substantially as described.

7. A harness-pad composed of a series of elliptic metallic springs having a plurality of coils, and spirally-coiled springs extended through the said coils at the endsof said springs and holding them in position parallel one to the other whereby the said springs are enabled to exert a yielding pressure on the back of the animal in parallel lines, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

XVILLIAM VOGLER.

\Vitnesses:

GEO. W. GREGORY, ADDIE FARNUM DANIELS. 

